Systems and methods for providing geographically-based promotions

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing promotional materials to potential customers are described. In some cases, the described methods include obtaining GPS coordinates of a merchant&#39;s location. In some cases, the methods further include providing a map showing the locations of customers in a promotion area, wherein a merchant is able to resize the promotion area to increase or decrease how many customers are in the promotion area. In some cases, the merchant further produces a text or other electronic promotion, optionally sets a time period in which such promotion is effective, and provides the promotion to customers within the promotion area. In some cases, as customers enter the merchant&#39;s location with their electronic devices that received the promotion, and during the promotion&#39;s effective period, the described systems match such devices&#39; GPS coordinates with the GPS coordinates of the merchant&#39;s location to register conversions on the promotion. Other implementations are described.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to systems and methods for advertising. Inparticular, some implementations of the present invention relate tosystems and methods for using one or more mobile devices to providepromotional materials to one or more customers, based (at leastpartially) on the geographic location of such mobile devices.

2. Background and Related Art

In an effort to encourage or otherwise persuade people to buy certaingoods or services, or to otherwise take or continue to take some desiredaction, merchants, service providers, and advertisers regularly sendadvertisements to potential consumers through such consumers' cellphones and smart phones. While these advertisements can be sent througha variety of methods and in a variety of different formats, in somecases, such advertisements are sent as text messages, e-mails, pop-upads, pop-under ads, display advertisements, and through a variety ofother methods.

Although many methods that are used to advertise to consumers throughcell phones and smart phones can be relatively effective for promoting aparticular product or service, or to otherwise persuade potentialconsumers to take a desired action, such methods of advertising are notnecessarily without their shortcomings. For example, some methods foradvertising via text messaging, spam e-mails, pop-up ads, etc. canactual annoy or repulse a potential consumer, thus deterring thecustomer from taking the desired action promoted by the advertisement.Moreover, in some cases in which a potential consumer receives arelatively large amount of advertising that is not relevant to (orinvited by) the potential consumer, the consumer ignores suchadvertisements, and can even miss relevant advertisements that theconsumer would have wanted to see. In another example, some advertisingmethods tailor advertisements to particular consumers, based on suchconsumers' biographical information (e.g., sex, age, race, income level,etc.). In this example, some consumers may feel uncomfortable inknowingly providing such information for advertisement purposes. As aresult, some potential consumers may choose to provide inaccurate ormisleading biographical information about themselves, which can lead toadvertising that is less relevant to the consumer than it could be ifsuch advertising were based on the consumer's accurate biographicalinformation.

Thus, while techniques currently exist that are used to advertise topotential consumers via such consumers' cell phones and smart phones,challenges still exist, including those discussed above. Accordingly, itwould be an improvement in the art to augment or even replace currenttechniques with other techniques.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for providingpromotional materials to customers (which term may be used herein toalso refer to potential customers). While the described systems andmethods can function in any suitable manner, in some implementations,the described methods include providing one or more customers with amobile app (or other form of software) that can be downloaded onto (orotherwise installed on) one or more mobile electronic devices (such as asmart phone, cell phone, PDA, tablet, handheld device, and/or any othersuitable electronic device) of such customers. While this mobile app canperform any suitable function, in one non-limiting example, the appallows customers to view and/or search for promotions offered bymerchants in a desired location. In another non-limiting example, theapp allows customers to subscribe to receive promotional texts, e-mails,and/or other forms of promotional materials from (or relating to)desired merchants. In still another non-limiting example, the appprovides customers with the ability to share promotions with othersthrough one or more social media sites (and/or in any other suitablemanner). In even another non-limiting example, the app comprises (and/oris configured to function with) a calendaring feature (e.g., GOOGLE®calendar and/or any other suitable calendar). In yet anothernon-limiting example, the app allows the physical locations of mobiledevices having the app installed thereon to be tracked, such thatmerchants can target specific promotions to customers, based (at leastpartially) on the location of such mobile devices. In this regard,although in some cases, a merchant can track all potential customers ina given area (including customers that have and have not subscribed tothat particular merchant), in some other cases, a merchant is able tospecifically track customers that have actually subscribed to thatmerchant.

In some implementations, the described methods further include obtainingthe address or other coordinates of one or more locations of a merchant,such as a restaurant, a retail store, a movie theater, and/or any othersuitable location that customers can visit in response to receivingpromotional materials relating to that merchant and/or goods or servicesprovided at the merchant's location.

In some cases, the methods further include providing a merchant with amap showing the locations of customers in a promotion area (or ageographical area to which the merchant can send electronic promotionsto one or more customers via a text message, a mobile app advertisement,an e-mail, a post on one or more social media sites relevant to suchcustomers, a post one or more other websites, and/or through any othersuitable method in which such customers can receive or otherwise accesssuch promotions). In some implementations, the merchant is able toresize the promotion area to increase or decrease how many customers arein the promotion area, and to thereby determine how many customers willreceive one or more electronic promotions from that merchant.Additionally, as some implementations of the described systems areconfigured to send (or push) promotions to customers that are subscribedto a particular merchant, in some instances, the described systems areconfigured to show a particular merchant which customers, of all of thecustomers in a promotion area, are actually subscribed to that merchant.Moreover, in some implementations, customers are also able to search forpromotions that are available in a desired location, provided by adesired merchant, have a certain review, and/or that otherwise fitdesired search criteria. Accordingly, in such implementations, thecustomers can pull promotions on demand.

While promotions can be generated in any suitable manner, in some cases,a merchant is able to create its own promotions. In this regard, amerchant can create such promotions in any suitable manner that allowssuch promotions to be pushed to and/or pulled by customers, as intended.In some instances, however, merchants are able to use the describedsystems and methods to create a single advertisement that the system isable to auto-populate as an text message, an e-mail, an in-appnotification, a calendar posting, an advertisement on a social mediawebsite, an advertisement on a website, and/or as any other suitableform of advertisement.

In some implementations, once the merchant has selected the geographicsize of the promotion area; prepared a promotional text message,calendar notification, e-mail, and/or other suitable promotion; and hasoptionally set a time period in which the promotion can redeemed (or isotherwise effective), the merchant is able to provide that promotion tocustomers within the promotion area in any suitable manner, including,without limitation, via e-mail, text message, an in-app promotion, apost on a social media site, a post on a website, a calendarnotification, etc.). In some implementations, even if a customer is notin the promotion area when a particular promotion is initially sent,such customer can automatically receive that promotion when the customerenters the promotion area during the effective period of the promotion.In even other implementations, a customer can choose (e.g., set themobile app) to receive promotions from one or more merchants when thepromotions are sent, whether or not the customer is in the promotionarea.

While the effectiveness of a merchant's promotions can be measured inany suitable manner, in some implementations, a promotion is determinedto be effective when a customer having the mobile app on the customer'smobile device enters (or comes within a set distance from) a merchant'slocation while carrying such mobile device and during the effectiveperiod a promotion relating to such merchant's location (e.g., during aset amount of time). Indeed, in some implementations, when a customer'slocation (e.g., GPS coordinates, longitudinal and latitudinalcoordinates, and/or other locational coordinates of the customer'smobile device) is substantially matched (for any desired amount of time,as discussed more below) with the merchant's location (e.g., GPScoordinates, address, and/or other locational coordinates) during theeffective period of one of the merchant's promotions, the describedsystems register such a match as a conversion on the promotion.Moreover, in some implementations, the described systems charge themerchant a fee (or deduct credits or some other from the merchant and/orthe merchant's account) for each registered conversion.

In some implementations, the described systems and methods areconfigured to register a conversion the moment that a customer enters(or comes within a set distance from) a merchant's location. In someother implementations, however, the described systems and methods areconfigured to register a conversion only after a customer has been at(or within a set distance from) a merchant's location for a set periodof time. In this regard, the set period of time can be any desiredamount of time (e.g., between about 5 seconds and about 8 hours, or anysub-range thereof, such as 1 minute or more) that tends to show that acustomer actually entered the merchant's location (e.g., for ameaningful visit) and did not just pass by.

While the methods and processes of the present invention can beparticularly useful in the areas of providing promotional materials tocustomers, allowing customers to find and share desired promotions, andallowing merchants to track conversions on the merchants' promotionalmaterials, those skilled in the art can appreciate that the describedmethods and processes can be used in a variety of different applicationsand in a variety of different areas. Indeed, in some implementations,the described systems and methods may be used to provide information ofany suitable form (including, without limitation, weather information,warning information, tour information, current traffic information,cellphone usage and balance notifications, prescription fill-upnotifications, usage notifications, any suitable type of mobilenotifications that are triggered by any suitable event, and/or any othersuitable type of information) to one or more people in a designatedarea, or that enter such designated area during an effective period ofsuch information.

By way of non-limiting illustration, some implementations of thedescribed systems and methods are modifiable such that a person carryinga mobile device having a version of the described mobile app installedthereon can receive information (e.g., an avalanche warning) when suchperson is in (or enters) a particular area. In another example, someimplementations of the described systems and methods allow a customer'slocation to be tracked (e.g., via wireless technology, such asBLUETOOTH™, GPS tracking, cell tower geolocation techniques, indoorand/or outdoor proximity systems, etc.) within a particular merchant'slocation (e.g., as the customer goes up and down aisles in a store) toprovide the customer with promotions relevant to the customer's positionin the merchant's location.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will beset forth or will become more fully apparent in the description thatfollows and in the appended claims. The features and advantages may berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. Furthermore, thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be learned by the practiceof the invention or will be obvious from the description, as set forthhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the manner in which the above recited and other featuresand advantages of the present invention are obtained, a more particulardescription of the invention will be rendered by reference to specificembodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings.Understanding that the drawings depict only typical embodiments of thepresent invention and are not, therefore, to be considered as limitingthe scope of the invention, the present invention will be described andexplained with additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a flowchart showing a method in which a customer is ableto receive and/or search for promotional materials in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2A-2I each include a screenshot depicting one or more elements ofa representative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2J depicts a flowchart showing a representative method forregistering conversions;

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart showing a method through which a merchant canprovide promotional materials to customers in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4A-4L each include a screenshot depicting one or more elements ofa representative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a representative system that provides a suitableenvironment for some embodiments of the described systems and methods;and

FIG. 6 illustrates a representative networked system that provides asuitable environment for some embodiments of the described systems andmethods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus,appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” andsimilar language throughout this specification may, but do notnecessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics ofthe invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details areprovided, such as examples of suitable mobile electronic devices,systems and methods for determining position of a customer and/or amerchant's location, social media sites, etc., to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the invention. One having ordinary skillin the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othersystems, methods, components, materials, and so forth. In otherinstances, well-known systems, structures, materials, methods, oroperations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuringaspects of the invention.

In the disclosure and in the claims, the term conversion (and variationsthereof) may be used to refer to a visit by a customer to (or within aset distance from) a merchant location.

As used herein, the term customer (and variations thereof) may refer tovirtually any person who has the described mobile app on a mobiledevice. Some non-limiting examples of suitable customers include one ormore consumers, patrons, people, patients, clients, visitors,subscribers to a particular merchant, and/or other people who have thedescribed mobile app on a mobile device and who visit, or who maypossibly visit, a merchant location while carrying their mobile device.

As used herein, the terms electronic promotion, promotion, promotionalmaterials, and variations thereof may refer to any suitable form ofinformation that can be sent and/or received through a mobile deviceand/or another electronic device (e.g., a computer) to help persuade acustomer to take or continue taking a certain action (e.g., to visit amerchant location). Some examples of such promotions include texts(e.g., via a short message service or otherwise), e-mails, in-appadvertisements, coupons, calendar notifications, social media posts,website posts, narrowband advertisements, television advertisements,radio advertisements, narrowband advertisements, and/or any othersuitable information, in any suitable format (including, withoutlimitation, as text, image, animation, video, and/or audio). In someembodiments, however, the promotions comprise any suitable amount oftext that is less than about 200 characters (e.g., less than about 140characters).

As used herein, the term merchant (and variations thereof) may refer toany suitable person, group, entity, organization, provider, retailer,convention organizer, location, lawyer, doctor, dentist, therapist,professional, stylist, service provider, mechanic, repairman,advertising agency, and/or other person and/or business that has amerchant location (or that is working for or on behalf of another thathas a merchant location) that a customer can visit.

As used herein, the term merchant location, merchant's location, andvariations thereof may refer to any suitable location (including,without limitation, any store; restaurant; establishment; clinic;theater; retail center; mall; church; fair; market; event; office;salon; garage; yard sale; garage sale; charity event; location wherefood, goods, and/or services are provided; service center; dealership;school; showroom; food truck; hotel; motel; and/or any other suitablephysical location of a merchant) that a promotion could directly orindirectly encourage a customer to visit.

As used herein, the term user (and variations thereof) may refer to anyperson who may become a customer (e.g., a person who could install orotherwise log into the described app on a mobile device).

The following disclosure of the present invention is grouped into twosubheadings, namely “Representative Methods” and “RepresentativeEmbodiment of an Operating Environment.” The utilization of thesubheadings is for convenience of the reader only and is not to beconstrued as limiting in any sense.

Representative Methods

The present invention relates to systems and methods for advertising. Inparticular, some embodiments of the present invention relate to systemsand methods for using one or more mobile devices to provide promotionalmaterials to one or more customers, based (at least partially) on thegeographic location of such mobile devices. In this regard, someembodiments of the described systems and methods include a piece ofsoftware that is usable on a customer's mobile electronic device(hereinafter referred to as an app or a mobile app). While this app canserve any suitable purpose, in some embodiments, it allows customers to(among other things): subscribe to merchants so as to receive promotionfrom (or relating to) such merchants; be able to share promotions withothers through one or more social media sites, e-mails, texts, calendarnotifications, and/or in any other suitable manner; search for andotherwise pull information on merchants and/or promotions; and/or betracked (e.g., via their mobile devices), such that merchants can targetspecific promotions to customers, based (at least partially) on thelocation of such mobile devices (and, presumably, the customers).

In accordance with some embodiments, the described systems and methodsalso allow merchants to (among other things): provide the describedsystems with coordinates for one or more merchant locations, determinehow many customers are within a certain distance (e.g., a promotionarea) from a particular merchant location, resize the promotion area inan effort to modify the number of customers that are located in thepromotion area at any given moment, send promotions to customers in(and/or that enter into) the promotion area, and/or to know that acustomer having the described app has entered into the merchant'slocation.

The described methods can be accomplished in any suitable manner thatallows merchants to target customers based (at least partially) on thecustomers' location. To provide a better understanding of the describedmethods, several embodiments of suitable methods and systems aredescribed below in more detail. Specifically, the following discussionfirst provides a detailed description of a non-limiting embodiment of amethod showing how a customer can interact with the described systemsand methods. Following such discussion, a detailed description isprovided of a non-limiting embodiment of a method showing how a merchantcan interact with the described systems and methods. It should be noted,that each of these methods can be modified in any suitable manner. Forinstance, any suitable step can be added to, be removed from, bemodified, and be reordered within each of the methods. It should also benoted, that while the term step is used herein, that term may be used tosimply draw attention to different portions of the described methods andis not meant to delineate a starting point or a stopping point for anyportion of the methods, or to be limiting in any other way.

With reference now to FIG. 1, that figure shows a representativeembodiment of a method 100 in which a customer interacts with thedescribed systems and methods to receive promotions. While this methodcan include any suitable element, step 105 shows that, in someembodiments, the method begins as a mobile app (or any other suitablesoftware) is downloaded to (or otherwise initiated on) a mobileelectronic device (e.g., a smart phone, a cell phone, a feature phone, aPDA, a tablet, a laptop, a handheld computer device, a portable computerdevice, a computer device 400 (as discussed below), and/or any othersuitable device that can run the mobile app. In some embodiments,however, the mobile app is downloaded onto a smart phone, a cell phone,a feature phone, a PDA, and/or other suitable electronic device that istypically carried on a customer's person, in the customer's dailytravels.

Although the described mobile app can serve any suitable function, insome embodiments, the app is configured to allow customers to receive,search for, share, and otherwise take advantage of merchant promotions.More specifically, and as stated earlier, some embodiments of the appallow customers to (among other things): search for merchants offeringpromotions, subscribe to particular merchants so as to receivepromotions from (or relating to) such merchants; be able to sharepromotions (e.g., virally) with others through one or more social mediasites (e.g., FACEBOOK®, GOOGLE+®, TWITTER®, etc.), e-mails, texts,website postings, and/or in any other suitable manner; and/or be tracked(e.g., via their mobile devices), such that merchants can targetspecific promotions to customers, based (at least partially) on thelocation of such mobile devices.

Where the mobile app is not already on a mobile device (e.g., as OEMsoftware or otherwise), a user/customer can download and install the appin any suitable manner, including, without limitation, by downloadingthe app from a website (e.g., www.mobileadreach.com and/or any othersuitable site); downloading the app from an app store (e.g., the PLAYSTORE™, the APP STORE™, etc.); opening the app from an e-mail carryingthe app as an attachment; scanning a quick response (“QR”) code, abarcode, a matrix code, and/or any other suitable code that is capableof directing the device scanning the code to download, install, and/orotherwise use the app; and/or in any other suitable manner. In oneexample, a merchant posts one or more markings (e.g., QR codes) in aplace where a user can scan the code (e.g., on table tents, posters,television commercials, website advertisements, in menus, and/or anyother suitable location). In this example, once the user scans the codewith the user's mobile device (e.g., smart phone, tablet, etc.), theuser is given the opportunity to download and install the app.

Step 110 shows that, in some embodiments, after the described mobile appis downloaded/installed on a mobile device, the customer can sign intothe app. While this signing-in process can occur in any suitable manner,FIG. 2A shows a representative embodiment in which the user is allowedto sign up/register as a customer. While the registration process canrequire any suitable amount and/or type of information about theuser/customer (including, without limitation, the customer's name, sex,age, race, e-mail address, password information, telephone number,physical address, employment status, etc.), FIG. 2B shows that, in someembodiments, the registration process requires relatively littleinformation about the customer (e.g., a password, the customer's e-mailaddress, name, and mobile number).

The customer can log into the app in any suitable manner. By way ofnon-limiting illustration, FIG. 2A shows that, in some embodiments, thecustomer is able to log into the app by inputting the e-mail address andpassword the customer provided in the registration process and/or bylogging in through a social media account (e.g., FACEBOOK®, GOOGLE+®,TWITTER®, INSTAGRAM®, etc.). Indeed, in some embodiments, instead ofdirectly registering through the app to use the app, the describedsystems and methods allow a customer to log into the app through one ormore of the customer's social media accounts (e.g., FACEBOOK®, GOOGLE+®,TWITTER®, etc.). In some such embodiments, information about thecustomer is automatically passed from such social media accounts to thedescribed systems.

Continuing with the method 100 of FIG. 1, step 115 shows that, in someembodiments, the customer is able to view information on one or moremerchants through the app. In this regard, the customer can access anysuitable information about the various merchants, including, but notlimited to, menus, pricing, hours, customer reviews, interactivedirections, current promotions available, retail type, promotions,and/or any other suitable criteria. In this regard, FIG. 2C (as well asFIGS. 2E and 2F) shows that, in some embodiments, a customer is able tosee customer reviews and obtain directions to a variety of merchants.

While the customer and/or the app can determine which merchants thecustomer is able to review, FIG. 2C shows that, in some embodiments, theapp includes a search feature 250 that allows the customer to search formerchants based on information input by the customer. In this regard,the app can search for merchants based on any suitable search criteria.Some examples of suitable search criteria include, but are not limitedto, the name of a merchant, a merchant location, the type of goods orservices provided by a merchant, hours of operation, the proximity ofmerchants to the customer, proximity of merchants to a customer's travelroute and/or destination, and/or any other suitable criteria that canhelp a customer find a desired merchant or merchant location. FIG. 2Dfurther shows that, in some embodiments, the customer is even able tosearch for: all merchants listed in the app, merchants to which thecustomer has subscribed, merchants to which the customer has notsubscribed, merchants based on proximity to the customer, and/ormerchants based on customer review's/ratings.

Returning to FIG. 1, step 120 shows that, in some embodiments, thecustomer is able to subscribe to one or more merchants. While asubscription to a merchant may serve any suitable purpose, in someembodiments, such a subscription opts a customer into receiving (and/orotherwise being able to access and take advantage of) promotions fromthe corresponding merchant. Indeed, in some embodiments, merchants areonly able to send (or push) promotions to customers that arespecifically subscribed to such merchants. Thus, in some suchembodiments, customers need not receive promotions from irrelevantmerchants.

Where the described systems and methods allow a customer to subscribe toone or more merchants, the customer can subscribe in any suitablemanner, including, without limitation, by subscribing through the app,by sending an e-mail (e.g., to the merchant, to the app's administrator,etc.), by sending a text, by selecting a link in a calendarnotification, and/or in any other suitable manner. In some embodiments,however, FIG. 2C shows that a customer is able to subscribe to (and, insome embodiments, unsubscribe from) a particular merchant by selecting asubscribe feature 255 in the app. In some other embodiments, FIG. 2Cfurther shows the app comprises a marking scanner (e.g., a QR scanner)feature 260 that allows a customer to subscribe to a particular merchantby scanning a marking (e.g., QR code) pertaining to such merchant. Inthis regard, it should be noted that some other embodiments in which auser/customer scans a merchant's marking with a scanner that is outsideof the app, the customer's electronic device may be searched for theapp, and if the app is not found on the device, the customer is giventhe opportunity to download/install the app. If, however, the app isfound on the device, in some embodiments, once the customer scans aparticular merchant's marking, the customer is automatically subscribedto such merchant.

Returning again to FIG. 1, step 125 shows that, in some embodiments, acustomer is allowed to search for promotions. In this regard, thecustomer can search for (or pull) promotions in any suitable manner,including, without limitation, based (at least partially) on theproximity of a merchant's location to the customer, the location of amerchant's location, the proximity of a merchant's location to acustomer's navigation route (e.g., the proximity to a customer's travelroute entered into navigation software and/or the mobile app), whetheror not the merchant is currently offering a promotion, merchant locationhours, customer reviews, type of goods or services provided a merchantlocation, and/or any other suitable criteria. By way of non-limitingexample, FIG. 2G shows that, in some embodiments, the app is configuredto allow a customer search for merchants in proximity to the customer.More specifically, FIG. 2G shows that, in some embodiments,participating merchants 265 are displayed on a map in relation to thecustomer 270. Moreover, FIG. 2G shows that, in some embodiments, thecustomer 270 is able to increase and/or decrease a search area 275(e.g., a search radius around the customer and/or other suitable searcharea). In such embodiments, the search area can be modified in anysuitable manner, including, without limitation, by increasing ordecreasing a search area based on distance of one or more merchants fromthe customer, by increasing or decreasing a search radius based ontravel time to one or more merchants from the customer's currentlocation, by entering a street address and/or zip code, by entering atravel route into the app and/or a navigation tool, and/or in any othersuitable manner. By way of non-limiting illustration, FIG. 2G showsthat, in some embodiments, the customer is able to adjust a search area275 based on the distance from the customer 270 to one or moremerchants. More particularly, FIG. 2G shows that, in some cases, thecustomer 270 can modify the search area 275 by simply adjusting a lengthof the radius (e.g., via sliding adjustment mechanism 280).

In some embodiments, instead of focusing the search area on thecustomer's current location, the described app (or a website runningsimilar software to the app) can allow the customer to search a searcharea 275 that is not necessarily based on the customer's currentlocation. For instance, if a customer will be traveling to a destinationand desires to find promotions in that destination area, in someembodiments (as shown by the zip code feature 285 on FIG. 2G), thecustomer can enter a zip code, state, city, town, county, country,address, and/or any other suitable description of a location, such thatthe customer can search for promotions in (and around) that particulararea.

Although in some embodiments, all merchants in a particular search areaare shown in the app (and/or on a website) in the same way, in someembodiments, the described app distinguishes between merchants that arecurrently providing a promotion and those that are not. While the appcan distinguish between such merchants in any suitable manner(including, without limitation, by labeling the two types of merchantsdifferently), FIG. 2G shows that, in some embodiments, merchants thatare currently providing a promotion 290 have a different visualpresentation (e.g., have rings 295 around the merchant's marker 265)than do merchants that are not currently offering a promotion 300.

Returning again to FIG. 1, step 130 shows that, in some embodiments, thecustomer is able to select the manner in which promotions are providedto the customer. In this regard, while merchants can send promotions tocustomers in any suitable manner, including, without limitation, bysending promotions to customers via in-app push notifications, e-mail,text (e.g., SMS or any other suitable texting protocol), by posting suchnotifications on one or more social media websites that are relevant tothe customers, by providing promotions through a calendar feature (e.g.,GOOGLE® calendars and/or any other suitable calendaring feature, and/orin any other suitable manner, in some embodiments, the customer is ableto select which ways promotions are sent to the customer. By way ofnon-limiting illustration, FIG. 2H shows that, in some embodiments, thecustomer can select whether or not he or she will receive promotions viatext 305, e-mail 310, and/or in-app push notifications 315.

With reference now to step 135 in FIG. 1, that step shows that, in someinstances, the customer receives one or more promotions. As previouslymentioned, these promotions can be received/accessed in any suitablemanner. Indeed, in some embodiments, the promotions are pushed to thecustomer's mobile device having the app as a text message, as an in-apppush notification, in an e-mail, via a posting on a social media feedthat is likely to be viewed by the customer, and/or in any othersuitable manner that allows messages to be sent to the customer. Indeed,in some embodiments, the promotions are even available on computerdevices besides the customer's mobile device (e.g., on a website that isaccessible on any suitable computing device with Internet capabilities).In some embodiments, however, the promotions are accessed (or pulled) bythe customer from a website displaying the promotions, by searching forand/or requesting the promotions through the app and/or a website (e.g.,www.mobileadreach.com and/or any other suitable site), and/or in anyother suitable manner. In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 2Ishows that promotions (e.g., coupons 320) from merchants to which thecustomer is subscribed are sent to the customer's device as in-app pushnotifications 325.

Returning again to FIG. 1, step 140 shows that, in some embodiments,once the customer receives or otherwise accesses a promotion (and/or anyother suitable information), the customer is optionally able to sharethe promotion, links to merchants, merchant and/or merchant locationsubscriptions, calendar notifications relating to a promotion, and/orany other suitable information with others. In this manner, promotions(and/or other information) can be virally propagated. In this regard,customers can share the promotions with others in any suitable manner,including, without limitation, via e-mail, text, sharing the mobile app,sharing a marking (e.g., QR code) pointing to the app, sending calendarinvites to others, posting the promotion on one or more websites, and/orposting the promotions on one or more social media sites. By way ofnon-limiting illustration, FIG. 2I shows that, in some embodiments, acustomer can easily share a particular promotion 325 with others byselecting a link 330 that posts the promotion to such customer's socialmedia feed (e.g., FACEBOOK®, GOOGLE+®, TWITTER®, etc.).

Continuing with FIG. 1, step 145 shows that, in some embodiments, aspart of the described method 100, the customer carries his or her mobiledevice. In this manner, the described systems and methods can track thecustomer's movements and determine if and when the customer visits amerchant location (e.g., in response to a promotion). Accordingly, thedescribed systems and methods can determine and log the number ofconversions that are made on the various promotions.

The described systems can track the location of the customers' mobiledevices in any suitable manner, including, without limitation, by:collecting the GPS coordinates from one or more customers' mobiledevices; conducting multi-lateration of radio signals between radiotowers and/or transmitters (e.g., cell tower triangulation) forapplicable customer devices, performing global system for mobilecommunications (“GSM”) localization for the desired devices; performingnetwork-based geolocation techniques for one or more customer devices;using one or more handset-based geolocation techniques/systems,SIM-based geolocation techniques/systems, Wi-Fi positioningtechniques/systems, hybrid positioning techniques/systems, geographicalregion monitoring (e.g., for some MS® systems) techniques/systems,BLUETOOTH® location techniques/systems, BLUETOOTH® low-energy beaconstechniques/systems, low-powered transmitter location techniques/systems,indoor proximity systems/techniques, outdoor proximitysystems/techniques, IBEACON® location systems/techniques, beacon regionmonitoring techniques/systems, crowd-sourced Wi-Fi5 systems/techniques,and/or any other suitable mobile device location techniques/systems;allowing a customer to input the customer's location into the customer'sdevice (e.g., via moving a marker on an interactive map, entering anaddresses in the described app, and/or in any other suitable manner);and/or by using any other suitable system, software, and/or techniquefor tracking the position of a mobile device. In some embodiments,however, the described systems track the GPS positions of customers'mobile devices when such a feature is active and switch to a Wi-Fipositioning system (and/or another suitable technique/system) when thedevices' GPS feature is turned off.

Indeed, in some embodiments, the described systems and methods track thelocation of one or more customer devices through a combination oflocation techniques/systems (e.g., cellular, BLUETOOTH®, Wi-Fi, and GPSdevice location techniques/systems). Additionally, in some otherembodiments, the described systems and techniques are configured toswitch between one or more location techniques/systems to track customerdevices. For instance, in some cases in which the described systems andmethods are configured to track one or more customer devices via GPS,and the GPS signal to a specific device is lost, some embodiments of thedescribed systems and methods are configured to determine the locationof such a device via cell-tower triangulation, crowd-sourced Wi-Fi5,IBEACON® technology, and/or any other suitable technique/system. Instill other embodiments, as a merchant begins to implement the describedsystems and methods, the merchant is provided with (or otherwiseobtains) a transmitter and/or receiver (e.g., an indoor/outdoorproximity detector) that is able to accurately determine when a customeris present at the merchant's location.

The described systems and methods can be modified in any suitable mannerthat allows them to properly register conversions. Indeed, in someembodiments, the described systems and methods are configured to allow amerchant to define (and adjust the size of) one or more conversion areas(or areas in which a customer's presence during a promotion's effectiveperiod qualifies as a conversion). Indeed, in some embodiments, amerchant (or the described systems) is able to define a first conversionarea, a second conversion area, and/or any other desired conversionarea. In some embodiments, a merchant is able to define a first and asecond conversion area.

While the first and second conversion areas can have any sizerelationship with respect to each other, in some embodiments, the firstconversion area is smaller than the second conversion area. Forinstance, some embodiments of the first conversion area extend anysuitable distance (e.g., between about 1 foot and about 2,000 feet, orany suitable sub-range thereof, such as about 15 feet)) from a desiredplace (e.g., an entrance, a till, and/or any other suitable location) ata merchant's location. Additionally, in some embodiments, the secondconversion area extends any suitable distance (e.g., between about 10feet and about 5,000 feet, or any suitable sub-range thereof, such asabout 200 feet)) from a desired place at a merchant's location thatallows the second conversion area to be larger than the first conversionarea.

The described systems and methods can implement multiple conversionareas for any suitable purpose and in any suitable circumstance (e.g.,when an exact location of a customer's mobile device is difficult todetermine, when two or more merchant locations are in close proximity toeach other, etc.). In some embodiments, however, such a technique isuseful in malls and/or other locations where different merchantlocations are in relatively close proximity to each other.

Where the described systems and methods include a first and a secondconversion area, the described systems can register a conversion in anysuitable manner. By way of non-limiting illustration, FIG. 2Jillustrates a representative embodiment of one such method 500. Inparticular, FIG. 2J shows that after beginning at step 505, someembodiments of the method 500 continue at step 510 as the describedsystems determine whether or not a customer is present in a merchant'sfirst conversion area during a promotion's effective period. If thesystem determines that a customer is present in the first conversionarea during a promotion's effective period, step 515 shows that aconversion is registered for that customer's visit to the merchant'slocation, and that the method 500 continues to step 520.

In contrast, if (at step 510) the described systems do not detect acustomer's presence in the first conversion area during a promotion'seffective period, step 520 show that, in some embodiments, the describedsystems wait until a customer attempts to manually redeem a promotion.In this regard, a customer can manually redeem a promotion in anysuitable manner, including, without limitation, by clicking or otherwiseselecting an option on the mobile app (e.g., a redeem promotion button),by inputting information into the mobile app, and/or in any othersuitable manner.

At step 525, FIG. 2J shows that, in some embodiments, once a customermanually redeems a promotion, the described systems check to see whethersuch customer is in the first conversion area. If the customer is in thefirst conversion area, then step 530 shows that the described systemsdetermine whether a conversion has already been registered (e.g., atstep 515) for that customer's visit. If a conversion has already beenregistered for the customer's visit, then FIG. 2J shows that, in someembodiments, the method 500 returns from step 530 to step 510, where thesystems wait to determine when another customer enters into the firstconversion area. In contrast, step 535 shows that if the systemdetermines that it has not already registered a conversion for thecustomer's visit to the first conversion area, a conversion for suchvisit is registered. Following step 535, FIG. 2J shows that someembodiments of the method 500 continue at step 540, where the describedsystems are allowed to return to step 510 to repeat the process for oneor more new customers or to end at 545.

Returning to step 525, FIG. 2J shows that where the described systemsdetermine that a customer is not present in the first conversion area atthe time when the customer tries to manually redeem a promotion, thenthe method 500 continues to step 550, where the described systems checkto see whether such customer is present in the second conversion areaduring a promotion's effective period. In this regard, if the systemsdetermine that the customer is not present in the second conversion areaat such time, then step 555 shows that, in some embodiments, thedescribed systems notify they customer that the described systems areunable to detect the customer's presence at the merchant's location. Insome such embodiments, the systems may ask the customer to visit themerchant's location and to then try again to redeem the promotion.

Returning to step 550, FIG. 2J shows that, in some embodiments in whichthe described systems detect that a customer is present at the secondconversion area at the time he or she attempts to manually redeem apromotion and during the promotion's effective period, the method 500continues to step 560, where the systems register a conversion. FIG. 2Jthen shows, at step 540, that once such a conversion is registered, theprocess can return to step 510 and be repeated or it can end at 545.

While the method 500 of FIG. 2J can be modified in any suitable manner,in some embodiments, the described systems are configured to provide acustomer with digital material (e.g., a QR code, a text message, adigital coupon, a calendar notification, and/or any other suitablematerial) when a conversion is registered, or when the customer manuallyredeems a promotion in either the first or the second conversion areaduring a promotion's effective period. As a result, in some embodiments,customers may feel obligated to manually redeem a promotion when theyare at a merchant's location. As a result, the customer may further helpthe described systems to determine the customer's location.

With reference now to the manner in which a merchant can interact withthe described systems, FIG. 3 illustrates one such method 200. Whilethis method can include any suitable step, FIG. 3 shows that, in someembodiments, the method 200 begins at step 205 as a merchant registersto use the described systems and methods. Although a merchant canregister to use the described systems and methods in any suitablemanner, FIGS. 4A and 4B show that while, in some embodiments, themerchant is able to register to use described systems and methodsthrough an app and/or (in certain embodiments) a website (e.g., byselecting the “register” feature 335 and providing information (such asan e-mail address, password, name, street address, phone number, and/orany other suitable information) about the merchant as shown in FIG. 4B),in other embodiments (as shown in FIG. 4A), the merchant can create anaccount by simply logging in with one or more of the merchant's socialmedia accounts (e.g., FACEBOOK®, GOOGLE+®, TWITTER®, TUMBLR®, SNAPCHAT®,VINE®, etc.). In this regard, in some embodiments in which a merchantlogs in through one of the merchant's social media accounts, someinformation about the merchant is automatically provided to thedescribed systems.

In some embodiments, once a merchant has registered to use (and/orlogged into) the described systems, the merchant is allowed to managethe merchant's account. While this can be done in any suitable manner,including, without limitation, via a drop-down menu, an interactivedisplay, and/or any other suitable technique, FIG. 4C show that, in atleast some embodiments, the merchant is able to manage various aspectsof the merchant's account through an interactive display 340.

Returning to FIG. 3, step 210 shows that some embodiments of the method200 include identifying one or more merchant locations. While this stepcan be useful for a variety of reasons, in some embodiments, this allows(among other things): customers to search for the a specific merchantlocation based on the merchant location's proximity to the customerand/or a desired area (e.g., zip code, street, city, state, etc.); thedescribed systems to provide customers with directions to the merchantlocation; and/or the described systems and methods to determine when acustomer has visited the merchant (e.g., by substantially matching alocation of the customer's mobile device with the merchant's location).

Although the merchant location can be identified in any suitable manner,in some embodiments, the process of identifying a merchant locationincludes actually identifying a physical location (e.g., a streetaddress, a longitude and latitude, GPS coordinates, cell-towertriangulation coordinates, Wi-Fi, IBEACON™, BLUETOOTH®, and/or any othersuitable coordinates) of the merchant location and/or any related areas(e.g., parking lots, walkways, gardens, dining areas, storefronts,display areas, warehousing, grounds, etc.). In this regard, the physicallocation of the merchant location can be obtained in any suitablemanner, including, without limitation, by providing/obtaining a streetaddress of the merchant location, identifying the physical location ofthe merchant location on a map, providing/capturing GPS coordinates(e.g., via a GPS receiver and/or a mobile device) of the merchantlocation, providing/capturing cell tower triangulation coordinates forthe merchant location, IP address (e.g., when a merchant is signing up anew merchant location through a web interface) and/or in any othersuitable manner. By way of non-limiting example, FIG. 4D shows that insome embodiments, a merchant location 345 is provided by entering thestreet address of the merchant location (e.g., in to a fillable form).Moreover, FIG. 4D shows that, in some embodiments, the merchant location345 is shown on a map 350. In some such embodiments, the merchant isfurther able to refine the physical location of the merchant's locationby dragging and dropping a marker 355 on the map 350.

As part of setting up a merchant location, some embodiments of thedescribed systems allow the merchant to enter additional information.Indeed, in some embodiments, the merchant is allowed and/or required toany suitable type of information about the merchant and/or the merchantlocation. In this regard, some suitable and non-limiting examples ofsuch information include a classification of the merchant location(e.g., whether the merchant location qualifies as a restaurant, retailstore, movie theater, convention center, and/or another suitableclassification), the name of the merchant location, a short descriptionof the merchant location, a long description of the merchant location, alist of products or services provided at the merchant location, an imageto be displayed in some cases in which the described systems displayinformation on the merchant location, a URL of one or more websitesrelating to the merchant, menu items, store items, and/or any othersuitable information. In this regard, FIG. 4D (and 4E) shows that, insome embodiments, the merchant is prompted to enter information aboutthe merchant and/or one or more merchant locations. While thisinformation can be used for any suitable purpose, in some embodiments,the entry of such information into the described systems allowscustomers to search for the merchant location based on key words,classifications, hours of operation, and/or any other suitable searchcriteria. In other embodiments, the entry of such information into thedescribed systems allow a merchant and/or the described systems toautomatically create a web presence (e.g., a web site and/or a webpagedisplaying some (if not all) of such information about the merchantand/or to display current promotions relating to the merchant and/or anyrelated merchant locations).

Returning to the method 200 of FIG. 3, step 215 shows that, in someembodiments, the described systems allow a merchant to post one or moremarkings relating to one or more of the merchant's locations. In thisregard, the marking may serve any suitable purpose, including, withoutlimitation, providing a means for users/customers to download all or aportion of the described software (e.g., the mobile app) to their mobiledevices (e.g., where the devices do not already have such software orthe most-recent version of such software) and/or to subscribe to one ormore merchant locations (as discussed above).

Where the merchant chooses to post markings relating to one or moremerchant locations, the merchant can post any suitable marking thatallows users/customers to receive the described software and/or tosubscribe to one or more merchant locations. Some examples of suchsuitable markings include, but are not limited to, one or more QR codes,barcodes, text numbers, URLs, and/or any other suitable markings. Insome embodiments, however, the described systems generate a QR code foreach merchant, each individual merchant location, and/or a collection ofmerchant locations. For example, FIGS. 4D and 4E show that, in someembodiments, the described systems generate a unique QR code 360 foreach merchant location. Moreover, FIG. 4E shows that the merchant candownload, print, and/or otherwise receive individual merchant codes 365and place such codes in any and all suitable locations and/or mediachannels, including, without limitation, on table tents, posters,websites, menus, television commercials, radio advertisements,narrowband advertisements, magazines, newspapers, directories,phonebooks, Internet advertisements, e-mails, coupons, text messages,etc. Accordingly, in some embodiments, if a user/customer sees such acode, the user can scan the code (e.g., with a mobile device, with thedescribed software, and/or otherwise) to receive the described softwareand/or subscribe to a particular merchant location.

Returning again to FIG. 3, Set 220 shows that, in some embodiments,merchants are able to create one or more promotions. While thepromotions can comprise any suitable format of media, including, withoutlimitation, one or more: characters of text, images, video clips, audioclips, HTML, animations, and/or any other suitable form of media), FIGS.4F and 4G show that, in some embodiments, the promotions (or coupons)comprise text. In particular, FIG. 4F shows that a merchant can type ina title of the promotions, text of the promotion, terms and conditionsregarding the use of the promotion, and/or any other suitableinformation. Additionally, while the textual information can be anysuitable length, in some embodiments, the text is limited to a maximumof 300 characters (e.g., 300 characters or less, 200 characters or less,etc.). Indeed, in some embodiments, the textual information is limitedto a maximum of 140 characters.

In addition to textual information (and/or any other suitable media),the promotions can include any other information and can be modified inany suitable manner. By way of non-limiting example, FIG. 4F shows thatin some embodiments, a merchant can select to which, of all of themerchant's locations, the promotion will apply. Additionally, FIG. 4Fshows that, in some embodiments, the merchant can select how many peoplecan redeem a promotion. For instance FIG. 4F shows that in some cases, amerchant can indicate that only the first 10 customers can takeadvantage of the promotion.

Returning again to FIG. 3, step 225 shows that, in some embodiments, thedescribed method 200 continues as a merchant optionally sends apromotion to one or more customers. While the merchant can determinewhich customers will receive the promotion in any suitable manner, insome embodiments, the described systems and methods allow a merchant todefine a radius and/or other promotion area around (or in some othersuitable relation to) one or more specific merchant locations. In thisregard, the promotion area can be any suitable shape (e.g., circular,square, rectangular, elliptical, triangular, polygonal, irregular,symmetrical, asymmetrical, and/or any other suitable shape) and can haveany suitable physical relation (e.g., be centered on, boarder, comprise,and/or have any other suitable relationship) to a specific merchantlocation. By way of non-limiting illustration, FIGS. 4H-4J show that, insome embodiments, the promotion area 370 comprises a circle that iscentered around a merchant location 375.

In some embodiments, the described systems are configured to indicatehow many customers are in a particular promotion area 370. In thisregard, the described systems can provide such an indication in anysuitable manner, including, without limitation, by displaying a numberof customers, by showing the location of each customer, by showingcustomers that are subscribed to a particular merchant/merchantlocation, by showing customers that have the app but are not subscribedto a particular merchant/merchant location, and/or by otherwiseindicating how many customers are in a promotion area, at any given time(e.g., in near real-time and/or as the locations of the customersupdate). By way of non-limiting illustration, FIGS. 4H-4J show that, insome embodiments, the described systems are configured to show a marker380 for each customer, showing that customer's physical location (or thephysical location of such customer's mobile device) in relation to thepromotion area 370. Additionally, FIGS. 4H-4J show that, in someembodiments, the described systems are configured to indicate whichcustomers are subscribed to a particular merchant and/or merchantlocation (as indicated by the customer markings 385 with the lightershading) and which customers are not subscribed to the merchant and/orone or more particular merchant locations (as indicated by the customermarkings 390 with the darker shading).

In some cases, the described systems are further configured (e.g., asshown in FIGS. 4H-4J) to allow a merchant to resize a particularpromotion area 370. In this regard, the described systems can functionas a proverbial “fish finder”, showing a merchant where customers are,and allowing the merchant to know how far to cast the promotional “net.”In other words, in some embodiments in which promotions are only sent tocustomers in (and/or that enter into) the promotion area, the describedsystems allow merchants to resize the promotion area to attempt toincrease and/or decrease the number of customers that will receive anygiven promotion.

In some instances, the described systems also allow merchants to placeeffective periods on individual promotions, indicating that suchpromotions will only be valid during a set period of time. In thismanner, a merchant can help encourage customers to act relativelyquickly on a promotion. In this regards, the effective period may be setin any suitable manner, including, without limitation, by being directlyor indirectly linked to the size of the promotion area (e.g., byincreasing and decreasing in proportion to, and/or in accordance with,an increase and decrease, respectively, of the promotion area), by beingdirectly or indirectly linked to a distance from the merchant/merchantlocation, and/or by being set by a merchant. By way of non-limitingillustration, FIGS. 4H-4J show some embodiments, in which merchants canset a specific time period 395 at which a particular promotion willexpire.

As indicated earlier, in some embodiments, the described systems areconfigured to allow merchants to send promotions to customers that arein the promotion area at the time the promotion is sent. In some suchembodiments, the systems are further configured to automatically sendapplicable promotions to customers as (and/or after) they (e.g., theirmobile devices with the described software/app) enter the promotion areaduring the effective period of such promotions. As a result, suchcustomers can receive timely promotions that are based (at least inpart) on the customer's geographic location.

Once a merchant has prepared a promotion and the size of the promotionarea is set, the merchant can send the promotion to customers in (or whoenter into) the promotion area. In this regard, the promotion can besent in any suitable manner, including, without limitation, as a text(e.g., via SMS and/or any other suitable format), as an in-app pushnotification (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2I), as a post on a social mediasite, as a post on another website (e.g.,http://www.miobileadreach.com), in an e-mail, a calendar notification(e.g., via GOOGLE® calendars, Microsoft Outlook, and/or otherwise),and/or in any other suitable manner. In some embodiments, however, thepromotions are sent in via default methods, via the methods permitted bythe customers' computer devices, and/or via the delivery methodsselected by the individual customers. For example, in someimplementations in which a customer is accessing promotions through asmartphone, the customer can access such promotions via e-mail, anin-app notification, a social network site, a text message, a website,and/or in any other suitable manner. In another example, where acustomer is accessing a promotion through a tablet, the customer canaccess such promotion via e-mail, an in-app notification, a website, asocial media page, and/or in any other suitable manner. In still anotherexample, where a customer is accessing a promotion through a desktopand/or a laptop computer, the customer can access the promotion via ane-mail, a social network site, via a website, and/or in any othersuitable manner.

Returning again to FIG. 2 step 230 shows that, in some embodiments, thedescribed systems compare the locations of customers with the relevantmerchant locations. In so doing, the described systems determine when acustomer (e.g., a customer carrying a mobile device with the describedsoftware/app) enters (or comes with a set distance from) a merchantlocation. In some embodiments, when (as shown at step 235) a customerenters or comes within a set distance from a merchant location (e.g.,with a mobile device having the described software/app), the describedsystems count such action as a conversion on a promotion.

While some embodiments of the described systems are configured to log aconversion any time a customer enters (or comes within a set distancefrom) a merchant location (e.g., with a mobile device with the describedsoftware/app), in other embodiments, the described systems only log aconversion when a customer enters (or comes within a set distance from)a merchant location during an effective period of an applicablepromotion. Additionally, while some embodiments of the described systemsare only configured to count a visit from a customer who is subscribedto a particular merchant/merchant location, in other embodiments, thedescribed systems log a conversion from any customer (e.g., with amobile device with the described app) that enters or comes within a setdistance from the merchant location, whether or not such customer issubscribed to that particular merchant and/or merchant location.Similarly, while some embodiments of the described systems only log aconversion when a customer who actually received a promotion enters orcomes within a set distance from a merchant location, in otherembodiments, the described systems are configured to log a conversionwhen a customer enters into (or comes within a set proximity from) aspecific merchant location (e.g., with a mobile device with thedescribed app), whether or not such customer actually received apromotion.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, step 240 shows that, in someembodiments, the merchants are able to receive or otherwise accessreports on one or more promotions. While such reports can include anysuitable types of information for one or more promotions (e.g., thenumber of customers that received one or more particular promotions, thenumber of conversions during the effective period of one or morepromotions, the time between when the promotion was sent and when theconversions took place, the number of first time and/or repeat visitsfrom one or more customers to the merchant location, the locations fromwhich the customers came to effectuate the conversions, etc.), FIG. 4Kshows that, in accordance with some embodiments, a merchant is able toreview the number of promotions received by customers for any individual(or group of) promotions and the number of walk-ins (conversions)occurring from such promotions during applicable effective periods.

Although some embodiments of the described systems and methods areconfigured to be provided to customers and/or merchants without anydirect charge (e.g., are provided for free, with advertising, etc.) tosuch customers and/or merchants, in some other embodiments, thecustomers and/or the merchants have to pay to use the described systemsand methods. Where customers and/or merchants pay to use the describedsystems and methods, the payments can be based on any suitable paymentmodel, including, without limitation, a subscription-based model, apay-per-use model, a pay-per promotion model, a pay-per location model,a pay for ad placement model, and/or in any other suitable manner).

In some embodiments, customers are allowed to receive and/or otherwiseaccess promotions for free, while the merchants are charged for use ofthe described systems and methods. In other embodiments merchants arecharged fees that are based (at least somewhat) on the number ofconversions such merchants receive on their promotions. In still otherembodiments, merchants are charged based (at least somewhat) on thenumber of promotions they receive. For instance, in some embodiments, amerchant is given the ability to send a certain number of promotionseach day (and/or during another set time period) to a limited (or whenotherwise determined, an unlimited) number of customers each day, forfree or for a set fee. In some such instances, however, the merchantwill have to pay a fee if it would like to send out more promotions thatday (or in the set time period). Additionally, in some such embodiments,the merchant will be deducted (or otherwise charged) credits, points,tokens, cash, and/or some other value for the conversions it receives.In this regard, FIG. 4L shows that, in some embodiments, a merchant canpurchase additional “points” to prepay for additional conversions.Additionally, in some embodiments, when a merchant's balance (e.g., ofcash, points, and/or other value) approaches or reaches zero (and/orsome other set threshold) and time still remains in the effective periodof a promotion, the described systems and methods will automaticallycharge the merchant a set amount to cover potential promotionredemptions.

In still another example showing how merchants can be charged for use ofthe described systems and methods, merchants are charged different fees(and/or deducted credits or other value) based on a classification givento the individual merchants. In this regard, merchants can be classifiedin any suitable manner, and be charged fees and/or have credits deductedin any suitable manner, based on such merchants' classifications. By wayof non-limiting illustration, a bar may be deducted 2 points for eachconversion, while a clothing store may be deducted 4 points for eachconversion.

In another example, merchants are able to bid on the prices they willpay for each conversion that is registered at the merchants' variouslocations. While this bidding process can function in any suitablemanner, in some embodiments (e.g., in concentrated merchant areas), thedescribed systems and methods include the running analytics that allowmerchants to bid on the price they pay for registered conversions. Insome such embodiments, the minimum bidding prices, the promotiondelivery methods, and/or the frequency with which promotions are sent tocustomers are automatically adjusted based on the time of day (e.g.,whether or not it is a highly valued time period, such as lunch ordinner time for restaurants, happy hour for bars, etc.), the size of thepromotion area, the number of merchants vying for promotions, the numberof customers in the promotion area, and/or any other suitable criteria.

In still another example, merchants are able to pay a set fee for acertain number of conversions, being charged an additional fee foradditional conversions. In this example, a merchant may provide apromotion (e.g., relating to a yard sale, church function, concert,charity event, race, fair, etc.) on a coupons page of the described appand/or in any other suitable manner. In some such embodiments, acustomer would have to subscribe to the merchant to obtain the addressof the merchant's location. Additionally, in some such embodiments, oncethe promoted event has been completed (e.g., the promotion's effectiveperiod has lapsed and/or the event has finished), the merchant isremoved from the merchant list and the merchant's account is placed onhibernation, ready to become activated the next time the merchantchooses to provide a promotion.

In yet another example, customers pay to use the described systems andmethods. While customers can pay in any suitable manner, in someembodiments, they pay: per promotion they use, a subscription free, byclicking on advertisements associated with the described systems, and/orin any other suitable manner.

In addition to the aforementioned features, the described systems andmethods can be modified in any suitable manner and can have any othersuitable aspect and/or beneficial characteristic. Indeed, in someembodiments, the described systems allow merchants to target customersthat are most-likely to respond to a promotion (e.g., customers that arein an optimal actionable location). In some embodiments, the describedsystems and methods allow merchants (and not a third party) to directlycontrol who receives promotions and when promotions are sent. In thisregard, in some embodiments, the described systems and methods allowmerchants to create and send promotions “on the fly,” thus allowingmerchants to send promotions at slow times and as the merchantsotherwise desire.

In some embodiments, the described methods also allow merchants totarget customers based on the customers geographic location and notnecessarily on other information that can be difficult to gather(correctly) (e.g., a customer's age, gender, shopping habits, etc.). Insome embodiments, the described systems and methods allow customers tosearch for merchants and promotions based on a variety of factors,including, without limitation, proximity to the customers, establishmenttype, hours of operation, consumer reviews, etc. In some embodiments,the described systems and methods also allow merchants to receivereports on various promotions to show what works and what does not(e.g., what key words, promotion area sizes, effective periods, etc.result or do not result in conversions). Additionally, in someembodiments, merchants do not have to pay for promotions or the numberof people that receive promotions, but only for the actual number ofconversions on the promotions.

In still other embodiments, the described systems and methods arecapable of tracking, and/or allowing a merchant to track, a customerwhile having little to no impact on the customer's operating experienceon the customer's mobile device. Indeed, while in some embodiments, thedescribed systems and methods track the location of a customer's mobiledevice while the described app is opened and running in the foregroundon the customer's device, in some other embodiments, the describedsystems and methods are configured to track a customer's location, evenwhen the app is not running on the customer's mobile device. While thiscan be accomplished in any suitable manner, in some embodiments, thedescribed systems and methods track a customer's device when thedescribed app is running in the background on such device. In otherembodiments, the described app is closed on a customer's device untilthe device crosses a geographic boundary (e.g., into the promotionarea), at which point the app is re-launched (e.g., into the backgroundand/or otherwise) on the customer's mobile device. In another example,if the described app is suspended when an event occurs (e.g., a customerpasses into a promotion area, a merchant is pinging or otherwisesearching for customers, and/or any other suitable event), the app is“woken up” and given time to handle the event (e.g., report its positionand/or otherwise handle the event) before going back into suspension.

In yet other embodiments, some implementations of the described systemsare able to be incorporated and/or otherwise used with any othersuitable systems and/or methods. Indeed, in one example, the describedsystems allow one or more promotions to be placed in a merchant'sinformation on a GOOGLE® Places page addressing such merchant. In somesuch implementations, a link that allows customers to download thedescribed mobile app from the Places page is also available with suchpromotion. Moreover, in some such implementations, when a merchantupdates its profile information in GOOGLE Places (and/or any othersuitable forum) such merchant's profile is automatically updated in thedescribed mobile app, in a website supporting the described systems(e.g., www.mobileadreach.com), and/or in any other suitable location(and vice versa).

In still other implementations, the described systems communicate with(and/or otherwise use) an application profile interface that allowsinformation (e.g., menus, store hours, product and service lists,customer reviews, and/or any other suitable information) toautomatically be uploaded to update (and populate) the described systemsand methods (e.g., to update merchant information in the mobile appand/or elsewhere).

In even other embodiments, the described systems and methods are used inconnection with one or more websites and/or software applications (e.g.,PANDORA®, SOUNDCLOUD®, and/or any other suitable software) that iscapable of audibly (e.g., vocally or otherwise) broadcasting (and/ornarrowcasting) a promotion upon delivery to a customer. Indeed, in someembodiments, the described systems and methods are configured toverbally announce a coupon to a customer when the promotion is received(and/or at any other suitable time).

In still other embodiments, the described systems and methods are alsoconfigured such that some of a customer's information is shared with oneor more third parties. While the described systems and methods can shareany suitable information about a customer with any suitable third party,in some cases, when a customer indicates that he or she would like tovisit a merchant's location, the described app provides the customer'spick up coordinates, destination coordinates, and/or other informationto a car service (e.g., a taxi service, UBER, etc.). Similarly, in someembodiments, the described app provides a customer with a link one ormore third-party services (e.g., a transportation service)—thus enablingthe customer to have a rich user experience and/or to more readily takeadvantage of a promotion.

In still other embodiments, the described systems and methods areconfigured to be used with and/or to function as a digital paymentplatform that allows customers and/or merchants to use to theapplication to pay for products and/or services.

In yet other embodiments, the described systems and methods are able tobe used as an affiliate and referral program for sales reps and forthird party marketing.

In even other embodiments, some implementations of the described systemsand methods allow a customer to receive promotions from one or moremerchants (e.g., merchants of the customer's choice), even when thecustomer is not located within a promotion area. Indeed, in some suchembodiments, a customer is able to choose (e.g., via a feature in themobile app and/or otherwise) to receive some or all promotions from amerchant, no matter where the customer is at the time a promotion for acorresponding merchant is sent.

Representative Embodiment of an Operating Environment

The described systems and methods can be used with or in any suitableoperating environment and/or software. In this regard, FIG. 5 and thecorresponding discussion are intended to provide a general descriptionof a suitable operating environment in which embodiments of theinvention may be implemented. One skilled in the art will appreciatethat embodiments of the invention may be practiced by one or morecomputing devices and in a variety of system configurations, includingin a networked configuration. However, while the methods and processesof the present invention have proven to be particularly useful inassociation with a system comprising a general purpose computer,embodiments of the present invention include utilization of the methodsand processes in a variety of environments, including embedded systemswith general purpose processing units, digital/media signal processors(DSP/MSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), stand-aloneelectronic devices, and other such electronic environments.

Some embodiments of the present invention embrace one or morecomputer-readable media, wherein each medium may be configured toinclude or includes thereon data or computer executable instructions formanipulating data. The computer executable instructions include datastructures, objects, programs, routines, or other program modules thatmay be accessed by a processing system, such as one associated with ageneral-purpose computer capable of performing various differentfunctions or one associated with a special-purpose computer capable ofperforming a limited number of functions. Computer executableinstructions cause the processing system to perform a particularfunction or group of functions and are examples of program code meansfor implementing steps for methods disclosed herein. Furthermore, aparticular sequence of the executable instructions provides an exampleof corresponding acts that may be used to implement such steps. Examplesof computer-readable media include random-access memory (“RAM”),read-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), compact disk read-only memory(“CD-ROM”), or any other device or component that is capable ofproviding data or executable instructions that may be accessed by aprocessing system. While embodiments of the invention embrace the use ofall types of computer-readable media, certain embodiments as recited inthe claims may be limited to the use of tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable media, and the phrases “tangible computer-readablemedium” and “non-transitory computer-readable medium” (or pluralvariations) used herein are intended to exclude transitory propagatingsignals per se.

With reference to FIG. 5, a representative system for implementingembodiments of the invention includes computer device 410, which may bea general-purpose or special-purpose computer or any of a variety ofconsumer electronic devices. For example, computer device 410 may be asmart phone, feature phone, handheld device, personal computer, anotebook computer, a netbook, a tablet computer such as the iPad®manufactured by Apple or any of a variety of ANDROID™-based,AMAZON®-based, BLACKBERRY®-based, WINDOWS®-based, and/or similar tablet(and/or other handheld) computers produced by multiple manufacturers, apersonal digital assistant (“PDA”) or other hand-held device, aworkstation, a minicomputer, a mainframe, a supercomputer, amulti-processor system, a network computer, a processor-based consumerelectronic device, or the like, running with any suitable operatingsystem (including, without limitation, iOS, Android, Windows, Linux,UNIX, Chromium OS, OS X, BSD, QNX, IBM z/OS, and/or any other suitableknown and/or novel operating system).

Computer device 410 includes system bus 412, which may be configured toconnect various components thereof and enables data to be exchangedbetween two or more components. System bus 412 may include one of avariety of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, or a local bus that uses any of a variety of busarchitectures. Typical components connected by system bus 412 includeprocessing system 414 and memory 416. Other components may include oneor more mass storage device interfaces 418, input interfaces 420, outputinterfaces 422, and/or network interfaces 424, each of which will bediscussed below.

Processing system 414 includes one or more processors, such as a centralprocessor and optionally one or more other processors designed toperform a particular function or task. It is typically processing system414 that executes the instructions provided on computer-readable media,such as on memory 416, a solid-state drive, a flash drive, a magnetichard disk, a removable magnetic disk, a magnetic cassette, an opticaldisk, or from a communication connection, which may also be viewed as acomputer-readable medium.

Memory 416 includes one or more computer-readable media that may beconfigured to include or includes thereon data or instructions formanipulating data, and may be accessed by processing system 414 throughsystem bus 412. Memory 416 may include, for example, ROM 428, used topermanently store information, and/or RAM 430, used to temporarily storeinformation. ROM 428 may include a basic input/output system (“BIOS”)having one or more routines that are used to establish communication,such as during start-up of computer device 410. RAM 430 may include oneor more program modules, such as one or more operating systems,application programs, and/or program data.

One or more mass storage device interfaces 418 may be used to connectone or more mass storage devices 426 to system bus 412. The mass storagedevices 426 may be incorporated into or may be peripheral to computerdevice 410 and allow computer device 410 to retain large amounts ofdata. Optionally, one or more of the mass storage devices 426 may beremovable from computer device 410. Examples of mass storage devicesinclude solid-state drives, flash drives, hard disk drives, magneticdisk drives, tape drives and optical disk drives. A mass storage device426 may read from and/or write to a magnetic hard disk, a removablemagnetic disk, a magnetic cassette, an optical disk, or anothercomputer-readable medium. Mass storage devices 426 and theircorresponding computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofdata and/or executable instructions that may include one or more programmodules such as an operating system, one or more application programs,other program modules, or program data. Such executable instructions areexamples of program code means for implementing steps for methodsdisclosed herein.

One or more input interfaces 420 may be employed to enable a user toenter data and/or instructions to computer device 410 through one ormore corresponding input devices 432. Examples of such input devicesinclude a keyboard and alternate input devices, such as a mouse,trackball, touch screen, light pen, stylus, or other pointing device, amicrophone, a joystick, a game pad, a satellite dish, a scanner, acamcorder, a digital camera, and the like. Similarly, examples of inputinterfaces 420 that may be used to connect the input devices 432 to thesystem bus 412 include a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, auniversal serial bus (“USB”), an integrated circuit, a FIREWIRE® (IEEE1394), lightning port, HDMI, or another interface. For example, in someembodiments input interface 420 includes an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) that is designed for a particular application.In a further embodiment, the ASIC is embedded and connects existingcircuit building blocks.

One or more output interfaces 422 may be employed to connect one or morecorresponding output devices 434 to system bus 412. Examples of outputdevices include a monitor or display screen or other electronic display,a speaker, a printer, a multi-functional peripheral, and the like. Aparticular output device 434 may be integrated with or peripheral tocomputer device 410. Examples of output interfaces include a videoadapter, an audio adapter, a parallel port, and the like. Examples ofelectronic displays include monitors, televisions, e-ink displays,projection displays, or any other display capable of displaying changinginformation under the control of a computer device.

One or more network interfaces 424 enable computer device 410 toexchange information with one or more other local or remote computerdevices, illustrated as computer devices 436, via a network 438 that mayinclude hardwired and/or wireless links. Examples of network interfacesinclude a network adapter for connection to a local area network (“LAN”)or a modem, wireless link, or other adapter for connection to a widearea network (“WAN”), such as the Internet. The network interface 424may be incorporated with or peripheral to computer device 410. In anetworked system, accessible program modules or portions thereof may bestored in a remote memory storage device. Furthermore, in a networkedsystem computer device 410 may participate in a distributed computingenvironment, such as a cloud-based computer environment, where functionsor tasks are performed by a plurality of networked computer devices.

Thus, while those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments ofthe present invention may be practiced in a variety of differentenvironments with many types of system configurations, FIG. 6 provides arepresentative networked system configuration that may be used inassociation with embodiments of the present invention. Therepresentative system of FIG. 6 includes a computer device, illustratedas client 465, which is connected to one or more other computer devices(illustrated as client 470 and client 475) and one or more peripheraldevices (illustrated as multifunctional peripheral (MFP) MFP 480) acrossnetwork 460. While FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment that includes aclient 465, two additional clients, client 470 and client 475, oneperipheral device, MFP 480, and optionally a server 485, which may be aprint server, connected to network 460, alternative embodiments includemore or fewer clients, more than one peripheral device, no peripheraldevices, no server 485, and/or more than one server 485 connected tonetwork 460. Other embodiments of the present invention include local,networked, or peer-to-peer environments where one or more computerdevices may be connected to one or more local or remote peripheraldevices. Moreover, embodiments in accordance with the present inventionalso embrace a single electronic consumer device, wireless networkedenvironments, and/or wide area networked environments, such as theInternet.

Similarly, embodiments of the invention embrace cloud-basedarchitectures where one or more computer functions are performed byremote computer systems and devices at the request of a local computerdevice. Thus, returning to FIG. 6, the client 465 may be a computerdevice having a limited set of hardware and/or software resources.Because the client 465 is connected to the network 460, it may be ableto access hardware and/or software resources provided across the network460 by other computer devices and resources, such as client 470, client475, server 485, or any other resources. The client 465 may access theseresources through an access program, such as a web browser, and theresults of any computer functions or resources may be delivered throughthe access program to the user of the client 465. In suchconfigurations, the client 465 may be any type of computer device orelectronic device discussed above or known to the world of cloudcomputing (e.g., a platform-as-a-service, a software-as-a-servicetechnique, an application programming interface, and/or otherwise),including traditional desktop and laptop computers, smart phones, andother smart devices, tablet computers, or any other device able toprovide access to remote computing resources through an access program,such as a browser. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the describedsystems and methods can allow many customers, merchants, etc. toreceive, access, and/or send promotions (and otherwise take advantage ofthe described systems and methods) from many places throughout theworld.

Thus, as discussed herein, the embodiments of the present inventionembrace systems and methods for advertising. In particular, someimplementations of the present invention relate to systems and methodsfor using one or more mobile devices to provide promotional materials toone or more customers, based (at least partially) on the geographiclocation of such mobile devices.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing an electronic promotion toa user, the method comprising: providing a physical location of amerchant location; viewing on an electronic display a number ofcustomers in a promotion area; providing a promotion to a firstelectronic device of a first customer in the promotion area; using acomputer processor to match a location of the first electronic devicewith the physical location of the merchant location to identify aconversion of the promotion.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising providing the promotion to a second electronic device of asecond customer who was outside of the promotion area at the time thepromotion was provided to the first electronic device, wherein provisionof the promotion to the second electronic device occurs at a time frameselected from: (i.) at the time the second device enters the promotionarea and (ii.) at a time after the second device enters the promotionarea.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion is given aneffective period and wherein the promotion is only sent to the secondelectronic device if the second electronic device enters the promotionarea during the effective period.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising identifying an effective period for the promotion, andfurther stipulating that the conversion of the promotion only occursduring the promotion's effective period.
 5. A computer program productfor implementing within a computer system a method for providing anelectronic promotion to a user based on the user's physical location,the computer program product comprising: a computer-readable,non-transitory medium for providing computer program code means utilizedto implement the method, wherein the computer program code meanscomprising executable code for implementing steps for: identifying aphysical location of a merchant location; indicating a number ofcustomers in a promotion area; providing a merchant with an ability tochange a size of the promotion area; providing a promotion to a firstcustomer in the promotion area; using a computer processor to match alocation of a first electronic device of the first customer with thephysical location of the merchant location to identify a conversion onthe promotion.
 6. The computer program product of claim 5, furthercomprising executable code for sending the promotion to a secondcustomer, upon the second customer entering the promotion area with asecond electronic device.
 7. The computer program product of claim 6,further comprising executable code for providing the promotion with aneffective period, and wherein the promotion is only sent to the secondelectronic device if the second electronic device enters the promotionarea during the effective period.
 8. The computer program product ofclaim 5, further comprising executable code for distinguishing betweensubscribed customers in the promotion area that are subscribed to themerchant and non-subscribed customers in the promotion area that are notsubscribed to the merchant.
 9. A computer program product forimplementing within a computer system a method for providing anelectronic promotion to a user, the computer program product comprising:a computer-readable, non-transitory medium for providing computerprogram code means utilized to implement the method, wherein thecomputer program code means comprises executable code for implementingsteps for: identifying a physical location of a merchant location;providing a map showing locations of at least one customer in apromotion area; providing a merchant with an ability to change a size ofthe promotion area to allow the merchant to have an opportunity to atleast one of increase and decrease how many customers are in thepromotion area; determining an effective period of a promotion;providing the promotion to a first customer in the promotion area; usinga computer processor to match a location of an electronic device of thefirst customer with the physical location of the merchant location; andcounting a match in the location of the first customer's electronicdevice with the physical location of the merchant location as aconversion on the promotion when the match occurs during the effectiveperiod of the promotion.
 10. The computer program product of claim 9,further comprising executable code for sending the promotion to a secondcustomer who was outside the promotion area at a time the promotion wassent to the first customer, and once the second customer has entered thepromotion area with a second electronic device, during the effectiveperiod of the promotion.
 11. The computer program product of claim 9,further comprising executable code for only counting the match in thelocation of the first customer's electronic device with the physicallocation of the merchant location as a conversion on the promotion whenthe match occurs during the effective period of the promotion.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 9, wherein the match in the locationof the first customer's electronic device with the physical location ofthe merchant location, comprises a substantial match between GPScoordinates of the first customer's electronic device and GPScoordinates of the merchant location.
 13. The computer program productof claim 9, wherein the map is configured to show the locations of theat least one customer in the promotion area in near real-time.
 14. Thecomputer program product of claim 9, further comprising executable codefor providing a report indicating a number of customers that receivedthe promotion and a number of conversions on the promotion.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 9, wherein the providing the promotionto a first customer in the promotion area comprises sending thepromotion to the first customer via at least two of the followingtechniques: sending a text to the first customer's electronic device;displaying the promotion in a mobile app on the first customer'selectronic device; displaying the promotion on a social media site; anddisplaying the promotion on a website.
 16. The computer program productof claim 9, further comprising executable code for showing customerswhich of a plurality of merchants have an active promotion.
 17. Thecomputer program product of claim 9, further comprising executable codefor allowing customers to subscribe to and unsubscribe from themerchant.
 18. The computer program product of claim 9, furthercomprising executable code for allowing customers to search for activepromotions.
 19. The computer program product of claim 9, furthercomprising executable code for deducting credits from the merchant basedon a number of conversions completed.
 20. The computer program productof claim 9, further comprising executable code for allowing customers toscan a marking to allow the customers to subscribe to the merchant.